The SteelSeries Alias and Alias Pro: An Audio Revolution
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- Опубліковано 15 лип 2024
- SteelSeries, instead of dipping their toes in the microphone market, has made a splash with not one, but two brand new microphones. The SteelSeries Alias, a USB Microphone and the Alias Pro, an XLR microphone with its own mixer.
Check out the complete overview of both mics as well as their software, Sonar For Streamers.\
Grab one of these mics for yourself (Affiliate Links)
SteelSeries Alias - geni.us/7bePY
SteelSeries Alias Pro - geni.us/dhyBAXR
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💻Read my reviews for CGM💻
SteelSeries Alias - www.cgmagonline.com/review/ha...
SteelSeries Alias Pro - www.cgmagonline.com/review/ha...
Check out the Alias Microphones (Affiliate Links)
SteelSeries Alias - geni.us/pwhbS
SteelSeries Alias Pro - geni.us/YKCmC
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📖Chapters📖
0:00 - Intro
0:22 - SteelSeries Alias Unboxing and First Look
2:20 - Hear The Alias For The First Time
3:32 - Sonar For Streamers
10:03 - Clearcast AI Noise Cancellation
13:06 - The Work It Took
13:34 - First Look at the SteelSeries Alias Pro and Mixer
16:50 - Listening to the Alias Pro (On the Desk)
17:33 - A Look at the Alias Pro's Mixer/Software Controls
19:37 - The Alias Pro From Further Away
21:31 - Available Now! Pricing, Scoring and Conclusions
Thanks for watching!
#SteelSeries #SteelSeriesAlias #SonarForStreamers - Наука та технологія
Are you going to be on Team Alias or Team Alias Pro? What features matter the most to you on a microphone?
Thanks for this. I think I am going to take your advice and go Alias over the pro. I don't have a dual pc setup and I dont plan to have one for some time.
@@BKGaming9000 Awesome, I hope you enjoy it!
Great video, I really appreciate you taking the time to explore very clearly, and simply, about these mics. As someone who is an audio engineer myself, I really didn't need to get so bogged down in the hyper specifics. but I did have a hard time deciding which mic would be best of the two. This video helped me decide. Thank you for making this!
Thanks so much for this comment. I have a broadcasting background and tend to get deep into the specs myself, but I always felt like the people who know that side of things don't need me for that information and the people who don't know that stuff don't care enough about it so long as it does what it is supposed to do. So the goal of my channel is to give people a simple rundown of the product without dumbing it down. I am glad that what I did provide helped you out with your decision, though. Whad did you end up going with?
went in interested in the microphone, but ended up learning how to use SONAR after disabling it ever since it came out. thanks for the informative and easy to follow video!
Glad you enjoyed the video and got something out of it
That is one very well done and informative video, kudos to you sir!
That means a lot. Thank you very much
finally somebody who reviewed it desk mounted 🤘
Thanks a lot Joe, you just helped me to make up my mind on which one I'm gonna get.
Huzzah!!! Which one are you going with?
@@MiscastJoe Alias. Thought of getting the pro but like you mention if I don't have a 2nd setup and can't really lazy to use the functions that the mixer provide so kinda pointless to get it.
@@devilwithin506 Good reasoning. I hope you enjoy it
Joe made me order it today :D Very good video!
Yay I hope you used my link (wink wink)
Great review, man. Appreciate you getting straight to the point!
Love that this is going to shine a brighter light on Sonar. Been using that software for a year now and it's fantastic! The Mic EQ is excellent and the AI Noise Suppression is the best I've used for a mic on ANY software. Amazing clarity and quality even while suppressing background noises.
Also the mixing capabilities offer GOXLR functionality but for USB users. Just great stuff!
Only issue I have is occasional crashes so hope they continue to work on that.
I do have 2 questions for you:
1. How does the fabric handle pops/breath? Can you speak close to it without bad pops?
2. How does it handle loud noises, ie. does it have any form of built in limiter or ability to limit distortion? I've found the compressor function in Sonar to be lacking in that area.
Thanks so much for the comment.
The fabric handled the pops well enough except for when I held it up in front of my face. While it was the right distance, the mic is usually on a slight angle from my face that would have helped that, which is why we didn't hear any pops when the Alias was on the mic arm. I experienced a little sibilance (not much), but I tend to with every mic. I think it's just the way I overprounce the letter S.
There is no built in limiter, but something I found, especially during the test of the Alias Pro, was that I was kind of yelling the whole time due to the noise in the room I had going to show of the Noise Cancellation. There was no clipping whatsoever during all of that. I agree that the Compression needs an update or at the very least advanced settings because I don't know what that slider is doing for my audio.
@@MiscastJoe Interesting about the pops/plosives. I'm hopeful it's good enough to have somewhat close. My content I'm aiming for (some stuff releasing soon) is heavily narrative vocused so I'm wanting that warm sound that a close vocal pickup requires. To your point though, angling it can achieve that. But also, have you found that the size of the capsule has helped at all? It's actually one of their selling points - that the larger capsule helps with louder recordings - does that also reflect across the quality of the audio too, and not just loudness? For instance, can you NOT have this mic right up close to your mouth (but maybe 6 or so inches away, whatever distance reduces plosives) and still achieve that high quality warm pickup?
Totally agree on the compressor. I can't tell what's it's doing either, other than boosting my voice. It doesn't seem to be compressing the loudness at all though - hoping that gets improved. Also hoping they can add a limiter to the software soon as well.
Look like the Alias Pro would be a perfect gift for my son for Christmas
Love to hear it...
Thank you for the video! Did you notice any difference in audio quality between the two worth mentioning? I would use the mic mostly for calls and video voiceover, so I don't really need the dual pc setup, but I would consider going for the XLR if it provides additional voice quality.
Im an audio enthusiast, looking at the price - as usual you'll be able to catch better alternatives for the same price, or even cheaper. At the very least cheaper and the same quality.
I will say the XLR version aka Alias Pro has a more pronounced high-end, its a bit crispier and clear sounding. But is it worth nearly twice the pricetag? not at all. If you're planning on running a simple setup the USB will do fine, otherwise - depending on your tone of voice (high/low) the following mics might be worth looking into for voiceovers:
Keep in mind you'll need an audio interface for most of these, but something like a scarlett solo from focusrite can be found for a good price, an even cheaper (well, depending on where you live) is something like a berhinger UM2 (IF they still produce them, otherwise they probably have a cheap and good Audio interface still)
I'll start with price from low to high.
Low budget:
Samson Meteor (cheap and dated, but effective - honorable mention for those on a budget).
Marantz MPM-1000 (cheap, but clear and absolutely a value buy - very capable for its pricetag).
Audio Technica AT2020USB+ (its exactly what I would call a "budget premium", but it can be a little sharp)
Mid budget:
Blue yeti (I dont rate it highly personally, but its still one of the most widely used for home-recording of voice overs.)
Rode PodMic (Voice overs and podcasting is its intended use. Price is decent)
Rode Procaster (big brother of PodMic, slightly clearer - and slightly more well-rounded)
AKG P220 (This one is my personal favorite in this price class, it does everything well. Even drum recording!)
Stellar X2 (Dont have personal experience with this one, but a friend talks highly of it - he's a fellow enthusiast.)
High Budget:
The infamous SM7B (Depending on where you get it, it actually falls into mid budget. But you need a lot of juice to power it, so its always high budget imo.)
Neuman mics (too many to name, they make so many legendary mics its crazy. U87/TLM 102/103 spring to mind)
Honestly I dont think you're going for this bracket, so naming more is probably pointless - but the SM7B is a solid investment imo.
Otherwise, out of the named - PodMic is easy to set up and sounds exactly like what you'd expect a "podcast mic" would. it actually fits in between the low/mid budget, so I wager its closer to what you're looking for personally.
Sorry if this was too long! Just wanted to get it all in here in case others have similar questions and decide to read this.
@@Skyflairl2p thank you very much for the in-depth reply!!! At the moment I'm looking at USB microphones as they would allow me to use them on the go with my laptop, not just on my home setup. I've tried to do some of my own research on the mics you've listed, and I've come to the conclusion that the SHURE SM7B would be one of the best price/quality buy for me, but it is still around 450 Euros in most parts of Europe, excluding all the other equipment I would have to buy with it.
So in the end I've decided to get the Steelseries Alias USB to go with my other steelseries products (I've also been using Sonar for a long time), and once I really want to upgrade my home setup to the next level I would go with the SM7B along with all the other necessary parts.
Once again, thank you for the help, I really appreciate it! :)
Great review! Are the desk stand and the shock mount made out of metal or plastic?
Thanks for the kind words! The shockmount is metal and the desk stand is plastic, but has good weight to it.
does both have an all metal body?
so honestly im in the market for a stand alone microphone and the ALIAS PRO caught my eye i don't really care for microphones on gaming headsets but i found the arctis nova pro wireless and tuned it to my liking you showed the line out so theoretically i would be able to use that as i line in on my headset base station to monitor and tune the microphone? correct
I think that could be configured, but the headphone out of the mixer can go to the input of the Nova Pro Hub.
Bro they made an XLR Mic THAT IS CRAZY!!
yep, they are definitely in the game now and they've done a great job in their first attempts.
Awesome review! I use the Arctics Nova pro wireless headset , so will I be able to plug in the dac to the mic and hear myself wirelessly through the headset (side tone) ?
yes you will be able to. There may still be a minimal delay, but nothing like if you sent it to your headphones over the PC. Not enough to speech jam you anyway.
@@MiscastJoe Thank you! This will only be able to do this with the Alias Pro correct?
@@5_i_v_e No, you can run a cable from the headphone out of the Alias into the input of the hub.
@@MiscastJoe 🙌🏽🔥Awesomeness🔥🙌🏽
thank you for confirming this. im glad they made this as almost all of my peripherals are steelseries with the exception of my cheaper usb mic. When stuff is all the same brand it tends to play nice together. Lastly did you get to check out the boom arm they are selling for these? Just curious if you have any thoughts? Thank you for all the info and great video.
@@MiscastJoe
what kind of XLR does the Alias Pro work with? because I didnt know it didnt work thru USB A
Any standard XLR should work fine, but it comes with one in the box. I showed it in the video
Wow, that noise cancellation is wild! I've thought about getting a dynamic mic like the Røde Podmic (the one you're using), because my room is untreated. But with the AI noise cancellation, this might be an even better option. Or can this feature be used on non-Steelseries mics? I also love the mute button with the lights. How do you mute the Røde Podmic USB?
You can use sonar for streamers with any mic, the BEACN Mic would be your best bet at a dynamic mic with really good noise removal. Or you can use NVidia broadcast. NVidia is a bit more of a pig on resources though
@@MiscastJoe Thanks, I'll look into it. So the AI noise removal is also accessible for any mic you're using?
@@xeroeddie yep. If you download steelseries gg and download sonar for streamers within it, you can try it out even with your headset mic
@@MiscastJoe Awesome! Thanks for the answer and great video. Keep it up!
thanks man, helped me figure out why my voice was so quite in my clips
Glad to be of service!
It may be related to changes in the way people understand and receive music, as well as its impact on culture and society. For example, this revolution might include a change in listener attitudes or the role of music in everyday life.
Did they add an advanced option for the compressor? It’s a bit of a deal breaker not having full control.
There is not an advanced option. Can I ask what you plan on using the mic for? There are only a handful of applications of this that would make this a deal breaker in my opinion.
@@MiscastJoe mostly for for voice overs and a bit of streaming. I like setting the ratio by myself, but maybe it isn’t that bad if I tried personally.
@abdulsalam32x voice overs I get because you want to really dial in those vocals, but the streaming, with all the compression you'll get from the platforms, I think that the fine tuning of compression would be negligible.
sell the mixer without the mic, that would give some more sales. Would like to try it, but not really need a new mic.
That's a very good point.. maybe some day.
Does the alias pro xlr work with a scarlet solo 2i2 3rd gen??
no reason that it shouldn't work with any audio interfaces with XLR inputs. The scarlet should have sufficient gain.
Wish the Alias Pro had a higher sample rate on the interface
I'd agree depending in what you are doing but these mics are built primarily for streamers, and those compression rates will really hurt the ROI made in upping the sample rate
Would the Alias Pro be able to with a PS5 and a PC instead of dual PC?
I honestly don't know. There is nothing that suggests that you can (usually there will be a list of supported platforms that allow for that), but my understanding is that you would need to assign your chat to the specific output to send to your PC, letting you add it to the mixing software. So I wouldn't recommend getthing this for that purpose. You might be able to run it as a mic for the PS5 but then capture the chat through the game capture (I believe you can set it up that way but have never tried), but the chat would always be a part of the mix unless you muted the game too. Feel free to join my discord (link in description) if you want to talk through it more
I believe there is no risk of phantom power damaging a dynamic microphone as dynamic microphones with balanced inputs are designed to ignore the 48v power.
It is true that a balanced Dynamic microphone will not have this problem and most modern XLR dynamic mics are balanced, but an unbalanced mic will be damaged and not all companies are particularly great about telling you which side of the fence they sit on, since you may not know for sure and because it provides no benefit to keep it on, it's best to turn it off.
@@MiscastJoe Honestly, it never occurred to me that companies might manufacture microphones with XLR inputs that are not balanced.
@@panchoki1d they certainly shouldn't, but it was something not considered by some people and seen as a way to cut corners by others
The benefit to the xlr isnt phantom power . It is that it is analog then encoded to digital through usb and splitting. Digital balanced audio can not do better than analog because mic audio will never be exact everyone and every tone is different. You don't want a digital voice unless you are a robot. the balanced and un balanced audio is for production and pc digital integration. EXE encoding and decoding. Kinda like matching formats. What a lot of people don't know is the pin out to xlr phantom power. The ground is a common. the ground for power is also a common wire for completing circuit for audio. 1 is hot 2 is not 3 is ground. Is how use audio video guys when we make our cables . And we use a drain (shield wire) for the ground or common wires. And it is shielded to the input side of cable on the male connector. The drain wire or shield collects the noise from outside the foil of the insulator . It is why xlr sounds better. All noise is drained to ground . Been this way for a very long time. The 48v reason is for carrying the power over very long lengths and keeping the current very low. reducing ac and dc noise.. Without voltage drop keeping it tuned up. the best audio in the world is still on vacuum tubes. Vacuum tubes are transistors essentially , but analog ones. also used as power filters in audio equipment rack power supplies.
@BobsTechServices-vp8rh once the digitization of the mic takes place (and considering the compression rates of Twitch, UA-cam, etc), the vocal quality is negligible (a major reason why i am often told that my voice sounds better on various usb mics than i did on my Podmic). Unless you are recording directly on your mixer or to another analog device, you are losing a lot of that quality. That's why, with this little mixer for a mic that was designed for streamers, I said that phantom power is the top benefit. And better mics with USB capability have great on board A/D converters (thinking of the RØDE NT USB+ or the NT1 5th Gen) where a direct comparison of the mic connected via USB vs connected via XLR then to a computer were pretty much identical, minus whatever processing you can do on the mixer directly.
this mic is good for everthing. sounds good also on Karaoke`? probably?
Call me old fashioned, but I'd use a traditional handheld for karaoke
Wave 3 or the A
Alias USB?
I think the Alias sounds a bit better but the Wave 3 has more compatability with other gear and a more robust software solution as a result. If you have a stream deck and want to be able to control your audio outside of the app, go with the Wave.
@@MiscastJoe Thank you for the reply! How does the Alias handle plosives without a pop filter? It doesn't seem there are any clean solution to attach a pop filter to the mic's body.
can i plug one usb into a console and the other usb into a pc?
I believe you can. If you search their instructions online they should be able to tell you for sure
Ok thank you, good video by the way!@@MiscastJoe
@@jacklee3845 Thanks so much. Glad you liked it.
Hello sir, I have a question about this 2 microphones.
Do you think the SHURE Mv7 is more powerful between these two models ? Cause I have a mv7 and I don’t know if it’s good to change for a better voice sound ?
it really depends on what you are looking for in a mic. Condensers (The Alias/Alias Pro) have a different sound profile than dynamic mics. I would say as long as you are happy with the sound of the MV7, then you don't need to spend the money to move.
New technologies have improved sound recording and broadcasting capabilities. Advanced microphones and recording devices have created better sound quality for both music and many other types of audio content.
Developments in audio technology, such as digital shower audio, wireless headphones, and smart shower sound systems, have changed the way we experience and enjoy music, podcasts, and other audio content.
XLR will allways sound better than USB so the "same mic" DESK AND ARM does not really work there
True but the problem is any Audio Interface that hooks up to your PC is Turning analog to digital anyways, making every mic a USB mic. You'll hear the difference if you are recording on an all analog system but the differences will be negligible if not altogether non existent (depending on the mic and Interface) if you are capturing on your PC